shortliner Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Oh, Adrian, I'd managed to forget that absolutely appaling heap of unmitigated garbage, released (Why? Oh Why? when it should have been buried in a very deep, dark hole in the back to the filming lot!)) under the name of "Sky Captain and the ......." What a shame you had to remind me of its existance! Bleugh! Yecch! I feel ill! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted June 7, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 7, 2012 Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow I thought the choice of a P40 was odd Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Enjoy the starkness of the early Quatermass films in black and white. Interpretations of John Wyndham's novels are generally good too. District 9 was quite thought provoking, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumblestripe Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Invisible ink again? Hey not bad! Be fair! And my anorak is at the cleaners! On the subject of Prometheus; please try not to put spoilers on this thread,as I mean to keep dipping into here as it grows. Ta. I think one of the problem with "Alternative Histories" as a genre, is that unless you flag it up every five minutes as "ALTERNATIVE" you are going to get numpties taking it as red. Witness "Braveheart" for one... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meil Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 No Highway - eerily predicted the Comet disasters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 An everyman's thoughts on IL Dittores' leaning towards the Science side of the fiction. The theory of the human body exploding in a vacuum is shown to be a myth. Either in space, or on a planet with thin atmosphere and / or low gravity. The problem of exposed contact with Ulta-violet / Gamma rays / extreme temperatures still remain. Discounting the vast distances involved in finding a suitable, life (Human?) supporting planet, possibly using hibernation, time travel, Warp-speed, worm-holes, Star-gates etc,,... one of the many remaining questions, not convincingly solved (for me) by your film maker, is that of Gravity.... As soon as I see someone padding about, as if at home, it turns me off. Mind blowing 2001 came up with a couple of answers, Velcro soled slip-ons and centrifugal force, but what of the Discovery 1's Command centre / cockpit ?. Gravity, or the lack of, seems to have gone out of the window. Maybe it was the pull of Jupiter keeping Dave on his feet ?. Alien's acidic blood dribble burns through the floor. The crew are in a panic, trying to stop it piercing the outer hull. If it wes a big enough blob, would it have done so ?, or merely stopped in the middle ?. Luckily, it wasn't, it did, and it didn't. Implausable though they all are, I prefer Earth based SF. At least them pesky, putrescent planeteers are playing away from home. May the farce be with you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 although Im a very big fan of Gerry Anderson's shows, people who know this assume that I like other sci-fi. however Ive never sat down and properly watched Star Trek, Star Wars or any other space themed programmes or films apart from one, 2001 which I like and so ill say is my favourite but I dont have it on DVD. the main reason is that I know from when I was a kid I got super addicted to Gerry Anderson's stuff so I Ive prevented myself from getting into them for this reason. if I had Star wars on video as a kid Id have every space ship model now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 not really a fan of Gerry Anderson's films. they seem a bit flat. however his regular team such as Derek Meddings on special effects and Barry Gray's music did a very good job on this film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCLpB7SHLqE&feature=related I think my fascination with his programmes such as Thunderbirds where that they where mostly based on futuristic earth, I remember reading Derek Meddings saying space is boring, I think Id agree with him the other fascination was how they got small models to perform, I could ignore the puppets, it was the planes and cars performing and exploding which was what interested me when my dad made me sit down and watch it for the first time when the BBC repeated them in 1992. I was 8. my dad was around the same age in the 1960s the first time round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackRat Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 Thinking of saturday morning cinema.............. The day the earth stood still always one to enjoy (original) Dark Star, forgotten that one! Anyone remember Battle beyond the stars? (based on the Mag 7 I think). So many others to........ Quatermass.........Forbidden Planet, Silent Running.....all great films. Still stand up well today! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted June 7, 2012 Share Posted June 7, 2012 thinking about Gerry Anderson, its more this mans work that has fascinated me, making models look realistic. James Bond miniature effects supervisor Derek Meddings by Flux Limbo, on Flickr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted June 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 7, 2012 In the 80's the BBC made a series called Star Cops. It was set in the near future when there are enough people in space to require a police force. Besides being a pretty good police show it made a point of being as technically accurate as the BBC could make it (although nitpickers could moan about rubber tyres on moon buggies). The main character carried a PDA which he could talk to in a sometimes useful fashion. Sort of like an iPhone. Special effects were really quite good for 1980's Beeb. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted June 7, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 7, 2012 Star Cops was brilliant, fanstastic theme tune but shown just the once by the BBC then binned after nine episodes and never seen again (don't think it even got a VHS/DVD release) although the theme tune did make it onto one of those old BBC Theme cassettes you used to be able to buy in Woolworths!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold 30801 Posted June 7, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 7, 2012 binned after nine episodes and never seen again (don't think it even got a VHS/DVD release) It got a DVD release. If you don't mind being robbed there are some 2nd hand copies on Amazon starting at £89 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2012 Ouch... And there was me thinking I paid a fair amount of cash for my Mysterious Cities of Gold set!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peach james Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 All 4 of the Stephen King/Richard Bachmann SF books would have made good movies- certainly, "The Running Man" did very well, and it is hard enough science that it works, it is far more a politicial commentary than a classic SF book, although I would be hard pressed to divide those lines exactly, and don't want them to be divided that way either. Same sort of thing with BladeRunner, and Total Recall, neither one postulate much beyond what we have now, but they use the "future" to set things in. As does 2001, where the drive was originally going to be a Orion drive, and they went as far as talking to several of the designers of Orion to get info about it. There is a lot of ground that can be covered in SiFi, and I enjoy the books quite a lot. Yes, there can be the suspension of disbelief problem, but some of that has to do with the techonlogy available to make the movie work. Another good SF movie, in my opinion, that hasn't been mentioned yet is "The Abyss". More like near term than far, but hey... James Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin1 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 anything thunderbirds ! remember well on satarday mornings !! and the original the day the earth stood still.....superb! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2012 In the 80's the BBC made a series called Star Cops. It was set in the near future when there are enough people in space to require a police force. Besides being a pretty good police show it made a point of being as technically accurate as the BBC could make it (although nitpickers could moan about rubber tyres on moon buggies). The main character carried a PDA which he could talk to in a sometimes useful fashion. Sort of like an iPhone. Special effects were really quite good for 1980's Beeb. Gerry Anderson show Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Ha! I must be the one who hated every Gerry Anderson Production made! I think I was 10 when "Torchy, The Battery Boy" was shown. I thought it sucked then and sucked now. I never could understand everyone fawning over those wooden characters he made (and I include the ones with real "actors" in). I thought "Thunderbirds" was awful too but I guess I'm in a minority... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2012 Gerry Anderson show No it wasn't: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088613/ Nearest Gerry Anderson series at the time was the appalling Terrahawks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Anyone remember Battle beyond the stars? (based on the Mag 7 I think). Ah yes! Sybil Danning with the "clutching-hands" Valkyrie costume - probably the most overtly sensual design possible on screen in the 80's Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2012 No it wasn't: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088613/ Nearest Gerry Anderson series at the time was the appalling Terrahawks! Thanks - I thought he was involved Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sidecar Racer Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 8, 2012 Can I throw Close Encounters of the Third Kind on to the table for peoples thoughts . I will admit to likeing it and enjoy repeat viewings . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Barry Ten Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 8, 2012 Thanks - I thought he was involved You might be thinking of Space Precinct? Not Gerry's finest hour. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Captain Kernow Posted June 8, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 8, 2012 I tend to find lots of science fiction films watchable, even if they are what's technically known as 'pap', I'll probably still watch 'em..... Small selection of favourite films include (in no particular order): - 2001 - Alien & Aliens (but not so much the subsequent ones) - Capricorn 1 - Silent Running (one of CTMK's favourites) - The most recent Star Trek (but I'm surely not the only person to find the adoption of the alternate timeline unsettling? ) - Minority Report (and probably anything else based on a Philip K Dick story) - Fatherland (alternate history) One classic science fiction novel that still hasn't been done properly, AFAIK, is 'War of the Worlds'. I appreciate that some like the 1950s 'classic', but that wasn't set in the right time period. There was the Tom Cruise version more recently, which was a jolly good romp but again, not set in Edwardian England. And then, there was the truely awful Pendragon Pictures version, where I thought that the make-up and special effects were a studenty wind-up, until it became obvious that this was indeed the main film. Supposedly set in Edwardian England, it was so clearly filmed in North America. I think that a proper, modern version of this story, set in the correct time period and with modern special effects etc,, would be an absolute stonker! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIRR Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Alien is effectively a horror movie set in a spaceship, while Aliens is more of an action movie. I like them both, but like you I prefer Aliens. Unlike the train wreck of the Starship Troopers movies (see the Worst Movies thread), the technology and military equipment in Aliens makes sense for the situation portrayed. Adrian Adrian, that's quite interesting comparison of Aliens and Starship Troopers. Although I have not read the book, I am sure that Aliens borrowed much of their military concepts from the Starship Troopers novel. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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